The Diversification of Alcoholic Drinks in Uymsikdimibang and its Social Meaning

『음식디미방』에 나타난 술의 다양성과 그 사회적 의미

Uymsikdimibang(음식디미방) - a book written around 1670 and implying the methods of understanding the taste of food and drink - records many kinds of alcoholic drinks. it is obviously a practical problem to explain the process of brewing alcoholic drinks. However, if we intend to approach the alcoholic drinks on the practical aspect, we can not explain why many kinds of alcoholic drinks were brewed. I acknowledge only that it was true to have brewed rice wine easily on the basis of the increase of the production of rice and the two-crop farming system of rice and barley in a paddy field as well as, for many kinds of alcoholic drinks to have increased as a result of the development of brewage since the middle and second half of Chosun. It is not until we approach the alcoholic drinks of those days on the level of meaning, value, and symbol that we can get a correct answer as to why Uymsikdimibang records many kinds of alcoholic drinks. In the second half of Chosun, confucian ideology was firmly established in country village societies, the idea of clan rules was instituted, and patriarchal system was organized. Such a social atmosphere was to emphasize the practice of confucian moral principle such as performing religious service on one's ancestors and receiving a guest, and in the course of it, the alcoholic drinks were recognized as important materials all the more. It seems that the subdivision and elaborateness of the meaning of the alcoholic drinks were in progress. As a result, I think that the alcoholic drinks would vary in kind and be graded. From ancient times, the alcoholic drinks were men's favorite foods, and the significance of the authority and prestige given to the alcoholic drinks was increasingly promoted by the rise of the social position of men in the second half of Chosun under the influence of confucian ideology. Subsequently, the alcoholic drinks became symbols which represented even the family's tradition and dignity. Therefore, men born of the nobility(Yangban) tried to brew the various and dignified alcoholic drinks relatively. Through the brewage such as this, they endeavored to maintain their privilege. I think that the diversification of alcoholic drinks was developed in the process of a series of social-institutional change.